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The Metaverse started out as science fiction. In his 1992 novel Snow Crash , Neal Stephenson imagined a world of visual entertainment that people could live in. In her cover story for The Atlantic , Megan Garber claims that this new era of entertainment has arrived – we just don't know it yet. Instead of choosing channel by channel or stream by stream, today's entertainment surrounds us: reality blurs, boredom becomes unbearable, and Americans risk being so distracted and distracted by our fiction that we let's lose our minds. TRUE. And the stakes couldn't be higher. "Perhaps this is how we lose the plot," Garber wrote. "This could be a terrible end for America: the limited series ."
"We Already Live in the Metaverse" is the cover story for The Atlantic 's March issue and is live today. Another problem will arise in the next two weeks.
We are constantly surrounded by immersive entertainment: we carry our TVs in our pockets and streaming platforms deliver on-demand entertainment whenever we want it. Social media invites us from the same device, inviting us to peer into the lives of others and project a stylized version of our own lives into the world, essentially creating personas of ourselves and each other in a live broadcast. direct. Most of the TV series we watch are "pulled from the headlines": stories so fresh from history that they can hardly be called history.
Garber writes: "Life is long enough in this environment that it becomes difficult to digest the truths of the world through anything other than entertainment. We are so used to it that a simple real-life version in a lavish environment seems boring in comparison.” Even simple updates on the weather or our taxes are presented as compelling stories. "Note the email I got from TurboTax," Garber wrote. "I'm happy to report that we've compiled the best tax moments of the year and created your Here's the ultimate no-frills entertainment must-have: even my Form 1040 came with a highlight reel.
This imperative affects not only our culture but also our politics. In our current reality, January 6th organizers have to put on a "good show" to get people's attention. A joke told by a Fox News anchor about sending immigrants to Martha's Vineyard quickly turned into reality because Florida Governor Ron DeSantis viewed the people as political props. Jorge Santos was able to write his life story and win a seat in the House of Representatives.
The rise of the metaverse, where it is difficult to distinguish between real and fictional, “corresponds to the collapse of the institutions that represent the world as it really is. that if a show isn't a limited series or movie but it doesn't become one. When the news arrives, we shrug our shoulders. We are waiting for the short series.
As Garber notes, "In a functioning society, 'I'm a real person' is self-evident. For us, that's a desperate call." He concluded: "A republic needs citizens, entertainment needs only spectators."
"We're already in the metaverse" is the cover story for The Atlantic 's March issue. For media inquiries or interview requests, please contact [email protected].
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